Apparatus for guiding and spreading fibers



Sept. 18, 1956 w. F. HOLTSCHULTE 2,763,100

APPARATUS FOR GUIDING AND SPREADING FIBERS Filed March 16, 1953 United APPARATUS FOR GUIDING AND SPREADING FIBERS William F. Holtschulte, Arcadia, Califi, assignor to Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application March 16, 1953, Serial No. 342,676

7 Claims. (Cl. 49-17) This invention relates to apparatus for producing and continuously attenuating fibers of a thermoplastic material and refers more particularly to an improved threading and guide apparatus for fibers such as those of glass.

The present invention is readily adapted for operations requiring the alignment and spacing of a plurality of single fibers or strands of fibers and particularly in instances where the fineness of the fibers is such as to make the handling of the plurality of individual fibers an almost impossible operation.

In order to illustrate the invention, an example of the use of the apparatus will be described with respect to handling of fibrous glass. In one such method it is the practice to pull a plurality of streams of molten glass from a container or melter and attenuate the streams to filaments and feed the filaments continuously into a high velocity flame of a burner to form very fine fibers. With this type of fiber-forming operation, it is necessary to introduce the primary fibers singly into the flame and spaced apart so that they do not weld together when softened by the heat produced within the flame.

In order to achieve high efficiency in this process, the fibers are normally spaced as close as practicable by means of a guide which supports the fibers as they are attenuated by the gaseous blast. The primary glass fibers or filaments are pulled from the container orifice at a uniform rate by continuously rotating friction rolls or the like to assure a substantially uniform fiber diameter, see Fletcher U. S. Patent No. 2,571,025. Heretofore it has been the practice to thread each fiber separately by hand into the guide when the operation was started. This operation not only was tedious but required a great length of time when a multiplicity of primaries were employed. Also this hand feeding resulted in a loss of material due to the time interval between the introduction of the first and last fibers into the flame.

Former attempts have been made to provide adequate threading and guide apparatus, see U. S. Patent No. 2,457,777 granted to Holtschulte et a1. Although this apparatus is well adapted for its intended use, the present invention is an improvement over the former apparatus.

Although the invention will be described in relation to fibrous glass processes, it is to be understood that the equipment is adapted for use with other fiber fabricating processes in which individual fibers of other materials are guided.

It is an object of this invention to provide threading means for spacing apart a plurality of individual fibers and advancing these spaced-apart fibers in a particular manner.

It is a further object to provide an apparatus for spacing individual fibers, which apparatus can be used in conjunction with a device adapted for pulling streams of glass from a group of orifices underneath a glass melter which then introduces the attenuated fibers of material into a suitable blast from a burner.

It is also an object to provide a portable apparatus Patented Sept. 18, 1956 that is adapted for being moved from forming position to forming position as desired.

The objects of this invention are achieved by providing an apparatus comprising a pair of pulling rolls which are driven through a suitable gear train from the regular pulling rolls used in attenuating the fibers and suitable cutting means for cutting off the fibers before they are introduced into the roll pulling device and its guide members. The foregoing, as well as other objects, will be more apparent from the following description of the invention and especially when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the threading apparatus in position over the production fiber pulling apparatus;

Figure 2 is a view of the apparatus of this invention with parts broken away to show the cross-section of the rolls and cutting device;

Figure 3 is a View of the apparatus with the two sections separated;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the comb;

Figure 5 is a rear elevation of the apparatus;

Figure 6 is a view of the friction rolls and cutting device in cutting position; and

Figure 7 is a side elevation view of another embodiment of the apparatus of this invention.

For the purposes of illustration, the threading and guiding device is described in connection with fibrous glass production equipment. It should be understood that the apparatus of the invention may be advantageously employed in practically any instance where the spacing of fibers or filaments regardless of their composition is determined by a guide interposed between the fiber supplying means and the fiber processing equipment.

In Figure 1 a pair of pulling rolls 11 and 12 are situated below a feeder 13 having orifices through which streams of glass 14, 14 emit. Rolls 11 and 12 in conjunction with upper guide 15 and lower guide 16, both of which have spaced-apart individual groove openings for each fiber, pull the fibers 14a formed from streams of glass 14, 14 downwardly in a spaced-apart relationship, the fibers 14a emitting from opening 17 of the lower guide 16. Rolls 11 and 12, which may be of rubber or other resilient material, are rotatably supported at opposite sides of the path of the fibers and cooperate with one another to frictionally engage the fibers and attenuate them as they are fed into succeeding mechanism.

Above the attenuating apparatus shown in Figure 1 is the threading device of this invention, see Figures 2 and 3. This apparatus comprises two rolls 18 and 19 driven through a gear train comprising gears 21, 22 and 23. Rolls 18 and 19 are similar in construction to rolls 11 and 12 in the pulling apparatus. Since these rolls are friction rolls, roll 19 is gear driven and roll 18, which is in contact with roll 19, rotates whenever roll 19 moves or rotates. Disposed below rolls 18 and 19 and rotatably supported is a deflector and cutting device 24. A chute 25 is situated below roll 18 and cutting device 24 as shown in Figure 2.

In Figure 4 is shown a comb 31 used as a guide device, the comb 31 being adapted for insertion in slot 26 provided in the side frame members 27, 27a of the threading device 10. The deflector and cutting device 24 is provided with a crank 28 for positioning the device as desired. Side frame members 27 and 27a are secured together by a pair of bolt fasteners Zfi, 29 having wing nuts. Comb 31 comprises a base member 32 and teeth 33, 33, the bottom of the base member being tapered to facilitate entry of the base member into the slot 26 and the base member likewise being provided with a plurality of grooves as indicated by numeral 34.

Comb 31 may have a handle mounted on the base member 32 at the side opposite teeth 33 for ease in handling. Furthermore, the comb may be mounted in vertical tracks which would act as guides for directing the vertical travel of the comb between the feeder 13 and threading device 10. Provision of means for horizontal travel is also necessary to allow threading of the fibers 14a, 14a into grooves 34, 34.

In Figure 7 is shown another embodiment of the invention wherein the threading device 35 is shown disposed above pulling rolls 11 and 12. The upper guide 15a is modified to allow positioning of the pivotable chute 36 which is a combined chute and cutting member in the form of an arcuate member pivotable as shown by the dotted line position in the drawing. Above a pair of friction rolls 37 and 38 is shown comb 31 which is the same as that in Figure 4. Pivota'ble chute 36 acts in conjunction wi-t'h stationary cutting bar 39 to cut off the fibrous glass strand 41 when desired.

The apparatus of this invention is used as follows, see Figures 1 to 6 inclusive. The threading device 10 is placed upon upper guide as shown in Figure 1, the machined surfaces of the upper fiber guide 15 and side frame members 27, 27a mating. Since driving rolls 11 and 12 are rotating, rolls 18 and 19 begin rotation as soon as gear 21 mashes with drive gear which is secured to roll 12. The operator then pulls the fibers 14a, 14a formed from the streams of glass 14, 14 downwardly by hand and directs the handful of; fibers between rolls 18 and 19, the comb 31 being completely out of position. The fibers tend to spread out and distribute themselves over the length of the rolls 18 and 19; however, they are not evenly spaced. As the fibers descend from rolls 18 and 19 they are deflected to one side by the deflector 24. Deflector 24 is a half-round bar which is rotatable on its own axis to deflecting, cutting, and by-pass positions as shown in Figures 1, 6 and 2, respectively. Comb 31 is placed in a position adjacent to the feeder, see dotted lines of Figure 1, with the teeth of the comb being inserted between the individual streams of glass emitting from the feeder 13. Comb 31 is lowered and moved forward so that the fibers are disposed in the grooves 34, 34 of the body or base member 32 of comb 31. Then comb 31 is lowered into the slot in the side frame members 27, 27a, the machined surfaces of the base member 32 and side frame members 27, 27a mating to hold the comb in the position shown in full lines in Figure 1.

During this stage of the operation the cut-ting device is in the position shown in Figure 1 so that the fibers are deflected to one side and over chute 25 passing in the direction indicated by arrow 30. Deflector and cutting device 24 is then turned into the cutting position shown in Figure 6 so that the fibers are out between the edge of cutting device 24 and the surface of roll 18. The cutting device is further rotated as indicated by arrow in Figure 6 until the cutting device is positioned as shown in Figure 2. When the cutting device is in this by-pass position the fibers which are being drawn downwardly by rolls 18 and 19. are directed downwardly through the upper fiber guide 15 and into rolls 11 and 12, thence through the lower guide 16 and into a proper burner blast, the latter not being shown.

The operator now removes comb 31 and the halves of the side frame members 27 and 27a are separated by loosening bolt fasteners 29, 29. The threading device 16 is thus removed in halves from the position shown in Figure 1 and the fibers simply pass downwardly from the bushing 13 through the upper fiber guide 15 and thence between rolls 11 and 12 and through lower fiber guide 16. The threading device is then reassembled and the cutting device 24 is returned to the position shown in Figure 1. The threading device is then ready for use at another position in the production line.

Although rubber covered rolls have been found satisfactory as shown in the drawings, it should be pointed out that these rolls 18 and 19 may be spring mounted so that crushing of the fibers is prevented.

The embodiment shown in Figure 7 depends upon a pivotable chute 36 impinging upon cutter bar 39 for the necessary cutting action. When the arcuate member 36 is in the position shown in solid lines in Figure 7, the fibers are deflected to one side; however, when the member is pivoted to the dotted line position, the fibers are cut OE and they pass downwardly through upper fiber guide 15a, between rolls 11 and 12 and thence through lower fiber guide 16.

The apparatus of this invention makes it possible to thread the myriad fibers into the individual channels or grooves in the fiber guides promptly and accurately so as to save time in starting the fiber forming apparatus. The apparatus is adapted for being moved from forming position to forming position and is capable of being used with existent manufacturing equipment.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, it is not intended to limit the invention solely thereto but to include all the obvious modifications and variations falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a fiber producing apparatus comprising a feeder having a plurality of laterally spaced orifices for flowing a corresponding number of streams of glass to form filaments, a pair of pull rolls spaced from said feeder for advancing said filaments, an upper guide memberinterposed between said feeder and said pull rolls to guide said filaments into the bite of said pull rolls, and a lower guide member disposed below said pull rolls opposite said upper guide member, the improvement comprising a threading and feeding apparatus comprising a pair of rotatable rolls iournalled in a frame which is adapted for mounting upon said upper guide member, means for rotating said pair of rotatable rolls to advance filaments therebetween, and disposed below said pair of rotatable rolls a half-round bar which can be rotatably positioned to deflect, cut or pass filaments emitted by said pair of rotatable rolls, said half-round bar being positional to contact the peripheral surface of at least one of said ro-. tatable rolls of said threading and feeding apparatus t cut said filaments.

2. Apparatus for guiding and threading individual fibers adapted to be used with fiber producing apparatus and comprising a pair of pulling rolls journalled in side framemembers, gear means for driving said pulling rolls to advance said fibers therebetween, a half-round cutting bar mounted adjacent to and directly below said pair of pulling rolls, means for rotating said half-round cutting bar on its own longitudinal axis from a deflecting position to a cutting position, said half-round cutting bar being so disposed with respect to said pair of rotatable pulling rolls that it contacts the peripheral surface of one of said pulling rolls when in the cutting position and it changes the direction of the advancing fibers when in the deflecting position, and a comb having elongated and spacedapart teeth adapted for mounting upon and between said side frame members in a position above the bite of said pair of pulling rolls.

3. Threading and guiding apparatus whichcan be quickly dismantled comprising a pair of side frame members between which is journalled a pulling roll, a second pair of side frame members between which is journalled a second pulling roll, said pairs of side frame. members, being adapted for being secured one to the other in such a manner that said pulling rolls bear one upon the other, said pairs of side frame members having a common groove disposed above the bite of said pulling rolls when said pairs of side frame members are secured one to another, a comb adapted for insertion into. said groove, and a half-round cutting bar and deflector member j urnalled in the first of said pairs of side frame. members and adapted for rotation on its own longitudinal axisfrom a deflecting position to a cutting position, said cutting bar and deflector member bearing upon the periphery of at least one of said pulling rolls when in the said cutting position and positioned with respect to said pulling rolls so that the path of the fibers advanced by said pulling rolls is redirected when the member is in said deflecting position.

4. Threading and guiding apparatus comprising a pair of rubber covered pulling rolls, each of said rolls being journalled within a pair of side frame members, said pairs of side frame members being adapted to be secured one to the other in such a manner that said pulling rolls are in frictional contact, a half-round rod member mounted below and generally between said pulling rolls, said half-round rod member being adapted for rotation on its longitudinal axis from a deflecting position to a cutting position, said half-round rod member being disposed so as to engage the rubber surface of one of said pulling rolls when in the cutting position, a long toothed comb adapted for mounting directly above and generally between said pulling rolls, and means for driving at least one of said pulling rolls.

5. Fiber producing apparatus comprising a feeder having a plurality of laterally spaced orifices for pulling a plurality of streams of glass to form filaments, means for continuously drawing the filaments comprising a pair of pulling rolls and an upper and lower fiber guide member associated therewith, a portable fiber guiding and threading apparatus adapted for mounting upon said means for continuously drawing filaments comprising a second pair of pulling rolls, a comb adapted for mounting above and generally between said latter pulling rolls and a half round cutting and deflecting bar mounted below and generally between said second pair of pulling rolls, and means for driving said second pair of pulling rolls from said pulling rolls in said means for continuously drawing the filaments, the pulling rolls of said portable fiber guiding and threading apparatus being in alignment with the upper and lower fiber guides and the pulling rolls of said means for continuously drawing the fibers when said portable fiber guiding and threading apparatus is in operating position upon said means for continuously drawing the fibers.

6. In a fiber producing apparatus comprising a pair of driven pulling rolls and an upper and lower fiber guide disposed above and below said pulling rolls respectively, said upper and lower fiber guides having spaced-apart individual grooves adapted for receiving individual fibers, a portable threading and guiding apparatus adapted for mounting upon said fiber producing apparatus and comprising a pair of pulling rolls, means for driving said latter pulling rolls to advance fibers therebetwecn toward said upper guide, a comb adapted for being mounted above the bite of said latter pulling rolls, a rotatable cutting and deflecting bar mounted below and generally between said latter pulling rolls, and crank means for rotating said deflecting and cutting bar to the cutting position wherein the deflecting and cutting bar contacts one of said pulling rolls of said threading and guiding apparatus, to the deflecting position wherein the fibers being advanced by said latter pulling rolls are deflected from their normal path toward said upper guide, and to the bypass position wherein the fibers are allowed to pass along said normal path.

7. A fiber guiding and threading apparatus comprising a pair of pulling rolls adapted for advancing fibers therebetween, each of said pulling rolls having their axis of rotation in the same horizontal plane, disposed below said pulling rolls a rotatable, half-round bar having a flat surface and a curved surface and adapted for cutting said advancing fibers and for deflecting said advancing fibers, the axis of said half-round bar being parallel to the axes of said pulling rolls but to one side of the vertical plane which extends through the bite of said rolls, said halfround bar being positional to deflect said advancing fibers from its flat surface when in the deflecting position, to contact one of said pulling rolls when in the cutting position, and to move completely out of the path of said advancing fibers when in the by-pass position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,457,777 Holtschulte et al Dec. 28, 1948 2,535,561 Bastian Dec. 26, 1950 2,571,025 Fletcher Oct. 9, 1951 

